Faced with the worst economy since the Great Depression, we supported Barack Obama for president back in 2008, hoping to end our wars and steady the economy. And it was easy: In 2008 Obama ran a positive, charged campaign, one that is unrecognizable with the tempered campaign for re-election.

But we don't seem to remember thinking Obama was going to instantly launch us from the abyss of the George W. Bush era -- an accusation of bright-eyed naivete that is frequently used by people, including members of Congress, determined to make Obama one-term president before he even took office after the election. So we checked.

From the Camera's 2008 endorsement: "While we certainly don't believe that Obama will usher in a revolutionary wave of transformation to the nation's capitol, we do believe his steady, calm leadership is vital both as this nation steers its way through a potentially crippling economic crisis and attempts to extract itself from an ill-advised war in Iraq."

Today, we still support our president, and we endorse him for president for a second term. And we still don't believe he will usher revolutionary transformation into Washington. But we certainly hope the U.S. Congress will agree that having the lowest approval rating in history might be a sign that doing very little -- abusing the filibuster, and refusing to work together on critical legislation that the economy needs -- isn't what most Americans want.

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We're glad the war in Iraq is over, but we wish the troops from Afghanistan would be withdrawn more quickly. We are happy to have comprehensive health care reform, but wish it went farther. It is hoped that as elements of it continue to be implemented, there will be numerous opportunities to drive the cost of health care in America down -- increasing the risk pool and enhancing preventative care will help, but it's not enough.

We are glad Osama bin Laden was killed.

And while the economy is affected by a lot of factors, under Obama the economy has been adding 150,000 jobs a month, though the unemployment numbers aren't shrinking fast enough. The stock market has rebounded admirably, even robustly, which helps everyone from wealthy CEOs to middle class employees with a retirement fund.

Mitt Romney has been a successful businessman and as governor, enacted admirable health care reform that greatly reduced the number of uninsured residents in his state. And he is no doubt a decent man according to just about everyone who has known him in his adult life.

But he seems to have a fundamental misunderstanding about Americans who are not like him. His ideas that sick people can just "fire" insurers giving them poor service, and that people without insurance don't "die in their apartment" -- he says "you go to a hospital, you get care" and a charity or the hospital just pays all your bills -- are a reflection of a man who has no idea what much of America deals with at all.

Most people will have views that evolve over time, but Romney -- in the span of just a few years -- has changed his positions on health care expansion, guns, and abortion.

He first defended, and then backtracked on his statement that 47 percent of Americans are entitled victims who don't "take personal responsibility and care for their lives." But it was far too detailed and revealing to be casually dismissed as inelegant. And it's a cruel depiction of half of the country, but more than that: It's not accurate. It's not an America we, as Americans, are familiar with.

Barack Obama has shown cautious, yet steady leadership during the slow emergence from an extraordinary recession. He did so despite the most divisive, obstructionist opposition in memory. We support President Obama for a second term.

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